The empirical short-form literature has been characterized by overly optimistic views of the transfer of validity from parent form to short form and by the weak application of psychometric principles in validating short forms. Reviewers have thus opposed constructing short forms altogether, implying researchers are succumbing to an inappropriate temptation by trying to abbreviate measures. The authors disagree. The authors do not oppose the development of short forms, but they do assert that the validity standards for short forms should be quite high. The authors identify 2 general and 9 specific methodological sins characterizing short-form construction and offer methodological suggestions for the sound development of short forms. They recommend a set of 6 a priori steps researchers should consider and 9 methodological procedures researchers can use to develop valid abbreviated forms of clinical-assessment procedures.

The ability to make precise distinctions among related personality constructs helps clarify theory and increases the utility of clinical assessment. In three studies, the authors evaluated the validity of distinctions among four impulsivity-like traits: sensation seeking, lack of planning, lack of persistence, and urgency (acting rashly when distressed). Factor analyses indicated that lack of planning and lack of persistence are two distinct facets of one broader trait, whereas urgency and sensation seeking are both very modestly related to each other and to the planning/persistence measures. The authors developed interview assessments of each, and multitrait, multimethod matrix results indicated clear convergent and discriminant validity among the constructs. The distinctions among them were useful: The traits accounted for different aspects of risky behaviors. Sensation seeking appeared to relate to the frequency of engaging in risky behaviors, and urgency appeared to relate to problem levels of involvement in those behaviors.

Researchers have found that, compared to European Americans, African Americans report later initiation of drinking, lower rates of use, and lower levels of use across almost all age groups. Nevertheless, African Americans also have higher levels of alcohol problems than European Americans. After reviewing current data regarding these trends, we provide a theory to understand this apparent paradox as well as to understand variability in risk among African Americans. Certain factors appear to operate as both protective factors against heavy use and risk factors for negative consequences from use. For example, African American culture is characterized by norms against heavy alcohol use or intoxication, which protects against heavy use but which also provides within group social disapproval when use does occur. African Americans are more likely to encounter legal problems from drinking than European Americans, even at the same levels of consumption, perhaps thus resulting in reduced consumption but more problems from consumption. There appears to be one particular group of African Americans, low-income African American men, who are at the highest risk for alcoholism and related problems. We theorize that this effect is due to the complex interaction of residential discrimination, racism, age of drinking, and lack of available standard life reinforcers (e.g., stable employment and financial stability). Further empirical research will be needed to test our theories and otherwise move this important field forward. A focus on within group variation in drinking patterns and problems is necessary. We suggest several new avenues of inquiry.

Aberrant salience is the unusual or incorrect assignment of salience, significance, or importance to otherwise innocuous stimuli and has been hypothesized to be important for psychosis and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Despite the importance of this concept in psychosis research, no questionnaire measures are available to assess aberrant salience. The current research describes 4 studies designed to develop and validate the Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI) as a measure of aberrant salience. In Study 1, an overinclusive item pool was subjected to an exploratory factor analysis, and items were kept or discarded based on factor loadings. In Study 2, the 5-factor structure of the ASI was confirmed with a confirmatory factor analysis, and a 2nd-order factor analysis found evidence consistent with a single higher order factor. Study 2 also provided support for the scale score's convergent validity as the ASI was strongly associated with psychosis-proneness measures and dissociation measures and moderately correlated with measures associated with levels of dopamine. This study also provided support for its discriminant validity as the ASI was only weakly associated with social anhedonia. Study 3 found that participants with elevated psychosis proneness had increased ASI scores, but in contrast, participants with elevated social anhedonia had similar scores to comparison participants. Finally, Study 4 found that participants with a history of psychosis had elevated ASI scores compared to a psychiatric comparison group. Overall, the ASI demonstrated sound psychometric properties and may be useful for measuring aberrant salience and psychosis proneness in clinical and nonclinical samples.

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The authors argue for a significant shift in how clinical psychology researchers conduct construct validation and theory validation tests. They argue that sound theory and validation tests can best be conducted on measures of unidimensional or homogeneous constructs. Hierarchical organizations of such constructs are useful descriptively and theoretically, but higher order composites do not refer to definable psychological processes. Application of this perspective to the approach of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to describing psychopathology calls into doubt the traditional use of the syndromal approach, in which single scores reflect the presence of multidimensional disorders. For many forms of psychological dysfunction, this approach does not appear optimal and may need to be discarded. The authors note that their perspective represents a straightforward application of existing psychometric theory, they demonstrate the practical value of adopting this perspective, and they provide evidence that this shift is already under way among clinical researchers. Description in terms of homogeneous dimensions provides improved validity, utility, and parsimony. In contrast, the use of composite diagnoses can retard scientific progress and hamper clinicians' efforts to understand and treat dysfunction. Keywords valid diagnosis; construct validation; construct definitions; homogeneity; diagnostic progressThis article has two basic aims. The first is to advance the argument that unidimensional construct measures provide the best basis for construct validation tests and theory tests. Validation tests on multidimensional measures, which are composites of related measures, can obscure important psychological processes. Elements of composites can, and do, act differently from one another, so analysis of composite scores combines the potentially different roles of its elements. For that reason, the use of composite scores can lead to unclear conclusions. The second aim is to apply this perspective to the problem of assessing and describing psychopathology. Many psychiatric diagnoses are composites of more than one construct, and so they may not represent meaningful psychological entities for most scientific purposes. Their use can interfere with clinical practice. We therefore advocate a new approach to

OBJECTIVE: Previous uncontrolled studies suggested a therapeutic benefit for treating gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) among patients with laryngitis. The present study is the first randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of gastric acid suppression among patients with laryngitis in the United States. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with idiopathic chronic laryngitis were randomized to receive either lansoprazole 30 mg p.o. b.i.d. or a matching placebo for 3 months. Before randomization, all patients underwent upper endoscopy, dual probe ambulatory 24-h esophageal pH-metry, and laryngoscopy, as well as completing a symptom questionnaire for GERD and laryngitis. The primary outcome of treatment was the complete resolution of laryngeal symptoms. RESULTS: A total of 22 patients with symptoms and signs of chronic laryngitis were enrolled, 20 of whom completed the study. At baseline, there were no significant differences between the two groups with regards to GERD symptoms, erosive esophagitis, proximal and distal esophageal pHmetry, or laryngeal signs and symptoms. In an intention-totreat analysis, six patients in the lansoprazole group (50%) and only one patient (10%) in the placebo group achieved a complete symptomatic response, p ϭ 0.04. Apart from receiving lansoprazole, there were no significant differences between responders and nonresponders in any of baseline esophageal or laryngeal signs and symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Empirical treatment with lansoprazole is efficacious in relieving symptoms of laryngitis compared to placebo. Such treatment can be considered as a first-line option in managing patients with idiopathic chronic laryngitis.